MC woman sentenced for leaving 2 small children alone while aiding fleeing juvenile

A Marion County woman, 23-year-old Deidre Ahevonderae of Flippin, has been sentenced in connection with aiding a juvenile run away from home in 2017 and in doing so leaving her two children, ages 1 and 3, alone for about 10 hours.

In an order filed Thursday, Ahevonderae was sentenced to four years supervised probation on two felony counts of endangering the welfare of a minor. Under the terms of the negotiated plea agreement, the sentences are to be served concurrently. The Flippin woman was also ordered to serve 40 days in the Marion County jail. Her misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a minor was dropped.

According to the probable cause affidavit, while aiding the juvenile run away from home, Ahevonderae left her two small children unattended from about 10:00 on the evening of July 15th until about 8:30 the following morning, without notifying anyone.

When the juvenile was discovered missing from her home in Flippin, family members went to Ahevonderae's residence looking for her. They found only the two small children in the home.

The juvenile was located on July 18th by law enforcement at the Harrison Walmart, where she was taken into custody, turned over to Arkansas Department of Human Services and transported to Baxter County Juvenile Services.

When interviewed, the juvenile said she has been caught consuming alcohol with the Flippin woman the week before by her parents. She said she ran away because she didn't want to be sent to a group home.

The juvenile told authorities Ahevonderae told her she would accompany her and arranged for someone to pick them up. She said the two left the Flippin woman's residence, walked down County Road 6064 and were picked up by a man named "Matthew" driving a car.

They allegedly spent the night at a cabin near Lead Hill, and the man dropped them off in Harrison the next day. They walked around town until the juvenile was picked up by Harrison Police. Ahevonderae was not detained and left on foot.